The European Union has urged Guinea-Bissau to promptly restore constitutional order and resume its electoral process following a coup in the West African nation.
Military officials declared on Wednesday that they had assumed “total control of the country,” halting the electoral process just before the results of the 23 November presidential and legislative elections were to be announced.
On Thursday, a general was appointed to lead a transitional government intended to last for one year.
A spokesperson for the EU’s diplomatic service issued a statement calling for a swift return to constitutional order and the continuation of the electoral process.
The statement emphasised that vote counting, disrupted by the military intervention, must resume as planned and that the results of the presidential and legislative elections must be respected.
The EU also urged all parties to refrain from violence and demanded the release of all individuals detained extrajudicially, alongside a commitment to uphold fundamental rights and freedoms.
The results of Sunday's elections were to have been issued on Thursday.
Meanwhile, opposition leader Fernando Dias claimed to have won the presidential election and accused outgoing President Umaro Sissoco Embalo of orchestrating a coup that disrupted the electoral process and brought the military to power.
Speaking to AFP by phone on Thursday, Dias declared: "I am the elected president of Guinea-Bissau." He stated that he was safe but currently in hiding within the country.
Domingos Simoes Pereira, the main opposition figure who was excluded from the election and later endorsed Dias, was arrested on Wednesday afternoon after the military seized control.
